Interview with Peter Davies, Wales Commissioner for Sustainable Futures and Chair of the Climate Change Commission

We were pleased to catch up with Peter Davies, Wales Commissioner for Sustainable Futures and Chair of the Climate Change Commission. Peter was kind enough to share his views on Jobs Growth Wales and the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill.

I am delighted to be able to contribute to the 3SC newsletter in my role as Commissioner for Sustainable Futures - an independent public appointment by Welsh Government to provide independent advice, support and scrutiny on Welsh Government’s statutory duty to promote sustainable development. Sustainable development has been an integral part of the devolution journey in Wales and we are about to take the next step on the journey with the introduction of the Wellbeing of Future Generations Bill. This new legislation is intended to provide a framework for how the public sector does business in Wales with a focus on a set of long term goals, underpinned by measures of progress, combined with a set of governance principles.

The way in which we work to support young people in maximising their potential to make a contribution to the economy, society and the environment must be at the heart of our long term development path as a nation. Jobs Growth Wales is playing a critical role in this respect as a partnership between government and employers to provide young people with the first steps in a challenging labour market connecting opportunities for growth and innovation with the potential skills and drive of young people.

Research continually shows that young people – particularly those who are currently unemployed still face stigma and negative stereotyping by many employers across all sectors. Jobs Growth Wales is breaking down those stereotypes and proving that these young people can make major contributions to the success of organisations, while also providing the platform for improving the long term skill base we will need for a prosperous Wales ,which is defined in the Future Generations Bill as “a low carbon emission economy that makes more efficient and proportionate use of resources; and which generates wealth and provides employment opportunities for a skilled and well educated works force.”

As Chair of the Climate Change Commission I am very conscious of the opportunity that low carbon – or green growth – provides for young people. There is no doubt that our economy is undergoing an accelerating transition to low carbon. It is important that organisations involved in Jobs Growth Wales ensure that they are providing that grounding in skills and maximising the contribution of young people who need to enter work with resource and energy efficiency as a basic skill. While I very much recognise that there is still work to do in our education system to ensure that programmes of Education for Sustainable Development really deliver the knowledge skills and attitudes needed for sustainable workplaces.

I hope that employers signed up to Jobs Growth Wales will also sign up to the Sustainable Development Charter as a demonstration of their commitment to contribution to the long term goals for Wales. Equally I want to ensure that the current 250+ Charter signatories see a commitment to Jobs Growth Wales as a most important and tangible step in ensuring that we are providing young people right opportunities at the start of their working life.

I also hope that these young people will be able to contribute now to shaping the Wales that they want both through their involvement in Jobs Growth Wales but also through becoming involved in the national conversation on the Wales We Want. This conversation will help to shape the long term development path for Wales and identify the measures of progress that matter to the people of Wales so we ensure our vision for the wellbeing of Future Generations.

Subscribe to 3SC Newsletter

Testimonials

"The RNC Assessment Centre is part of the 3SC ATW network for Wales. We find the 3SC team to be very approachable and receptive to work with. We receive warm, prompt handovers containing all the information we need to support the customer through the assessment process.
The 3SC system is user friendly and makes processing data fast and efficient. Our Contract Manager is in regular touch through face to face meetings, email and phone calls and is always available if we have questions. Our experience as one of 3SC’s delivery organisations meant we did not hesitate to choose them as our sub-contractors when we successfully bid for the DWP SES contract and they have once again proved to be responsive, customer-led partners.
"

John Lynch - Director of Learning and Curriculum Royal National College for the Blind

"Delivering the SES contract has been our first formal relationship with 3SC and it has allowed our organisation to branch out into additional Welfare to Work delivery alongside our Work Choice and other contracts. Our relationship with 3SC has been very open and honest and we feel that we have gained a lot whilst also helping 3SC to develop the programme and the structure of the contract, for the benefit of our customers. We look forward to new opportunities where we can work in partnership and make best use of our skills and experience of supporting disabled and disadvantaged people into sustainable employment.
"

Richard Welfoot - CEO, MTIB

"Bootstrap Enterprises have worked as a subcontracted partner of 3SC for the past year. We greatly value this partnership which we feel has been mutually collaborative and productive.
The approach of 3SC as a prime contractor is supportive, very well organised and responsive when necessary. From our perspective we are grateful to 3SC who regard our local expertise and resource positively and are supportive of our insight and actions when working with customers.
Our project delivery is supported by friendly and effective systems and personnel – IT, compliance and claims, and monitoring and feedback opportunities which are accessible and neither cumbersome or time consuming.
3SC are a good partner to work with and we hope our relationship with them continues in the future.
"

Dave Wylie - Programme Manager, Bootstrap Enterprises

"We started working with Purple Futures in Merseyside in January 2016. 3SC were involved from the start, providing a reporting and monitoring platform that significantly helped us to ensure not only that we had robust procedures to evidence outcomes properly, but also that those procedures grew with the contract, and were flexible to the needs of our learners.
Our contract monitoring lead at 3SC was Karen Ballentyne and I cannot speak too highly of her support throughout. Not only was she crucial in ensuring that compliance standards were met, but she also got involved in the courses we ran, making sure she understood the nuances of our delivery, where the stress lines existed with the wider partnership and providing advice and contacts that enabled us to address issues and resolve problems. Without this unique provision, ensuring the smooth implementation and ongoing delivery of the project would have been much harder.
"

Peter Bentley - Managing Director, Intuitive Thinking Skills Ltd

"We are delighted to partner with 3SC as they truly understand the need to be innovative, robust and open. As a technology partner this is a most refreshing and enlightened approach.
The key factor in our successful relationship is 3SC’s holistic approach to technology by concentrating on the ‘big picture’ as they are prepared to trust us and happy to work through the detail when necessary.
"

Mark Kemp – Managing Director, The Gallery Partnership

Latest News

Following on from our successful delivery of the previous iteration of Access to Work, 3SC currently work with RBLI on the newest version.
We asked one of our assessors, Rita, to talk a little about the challenges some of our customers living with Diabetes face.

3SC were introduced to Trinity Winchester in 2016 at the ‘Women in the Criminal Justice System conference’ and following this the charity expressed an interest in working with 3SC and the Community Rehabilitation Company (CRC). 3SC invited Trinity to attend a Grant and Innovation Workshop in July 2016. Following this the CRC worked with Trinity to develop their proposed idea and 3SC completed the Due Diligence.